Friday morning we were sitting having our morning coffee and wondering how Red made out with the drive into Vancouver to drop off Pam at the train station. I looked out our back window and saw his truck was there, so we figured he made it there and back safe and sound.

Well, we received a text message from him at about 8:30...they'd had a change of plans. They were all ready to leave this morning when Pam found a notice from the campground on the door. There had been a complaint about the dogs. Not wanting to leave Red to deal with any issues by himself, they decided to just leave today and cross the border into Washington State. They'll find an RV park close to Kent and Pam could still go on her wine weekend with the girls. Sorry to see them go under unpleasant circumstances. It was great meeting them...we'll see you down the road!

With hugs and handshakes, we said our goodbyes and then Steve headed off for his annual doctor's appointment. :-( He also had a few other errands to take care of,...so he would be gone for awhile. A good time for me to "wash away the grey" from my hair...I''m finally getting it cut on Monday after 3+ months. I'm a little gun-shy after getting an awful cut last time so am hoping this stylist knows how to cut naturally curly hair!

I was sitting outside reading when Steve got home at about 2:00. He had stopped at Gold Key GMC and they ended up being able to put in new batteries in the truck today...he has booked it in to have the exhaust brake "squeal" looked at when we get back from our visit to the island.

After a quick bite to eat, he went out to the truck to re-program the radio. All of the settings had been lost with the dead batteries we had at Peter Hope Lake. I decided to go for a walk into town and when I got back an hour later, he was still at it. They just don't make things simple with things these days!

Saturday was another beautiful sunny day. We had our usual relaxing start to the day and then decided to get our butts in gear. After doing our exercises, we showered, had breakfast, did dishes and got ready for company.

Just before noon, Doug and Sue, a work camping couple we met at Monck Provincial Park, arrived and we spent a lovely afternoon visiting with them. It was great seeing you both again!
Doug, Sue and Steve...

...and Tucker...

After dinner we went for a walk around the campground. We are amazed at how busy it is...I think we only saw three empty sites! Very unusual for this time of year...mind you, the weather is still fabulous and perhaps with BC's teachers on strike, families are still in summer-mode!

This big boy came in this afternoon...and I thought we were big! When Steve went down to take this picture, there was no one around, so he wasn't able to find out exactly how long he is. They are from Ontario and have kids with them so may be home schooled. There are two motorcycles under the overhang...

Steve and I spent Sunday morning preparing for house guests tonight. Dave and Kerry (Steve's brother and sister-in-law) from Thompson, Manitoba are stopping for a quick visit with us on their way to the ferry to Victoria. They will be visiting family there and then, of course, will be back in Burnaby for the wedding of the 27th.

We have a blow-up bed in the sofa that we have never used, so we figured it was time to try it out. Well, after figuring out how to set the bed up, we plugged in and inflated the bed. After finding and patching 4 different holes and tears with Gorilla tape, we gave up...it was time to turf this never before used air bed!

So we went to 'plan B' and inflated our airbed that we use in the box of the truck....it was a little too high to put on top of the sofa; they'd need a ladder to climb up! So we'll just move the chairs out of the way and put it on the floor tonight.

After that was all taken care of, we went for a walk across the bridge and along the trail for a bit. We stopped at the market to pick up some corn-on-the-cob for dinner. Steve took this picture of a boat pulling someone on a tube...

Chris and Angela arrived just before 4:00 and we sat visiting with them until 6:00 when Dave and Kerry arrived....Dave, Kerry, Chris and Angela...

We all managed to sit around the picnic table for dinner. Unfortunately Dave threw his back out a couple of days ago and was in a lot of pain...

...and then Kerry brought out her nail paraphernalia and did our nails while the guys sat around the Campfire-in-a-Can. Angela was first...she put leopard print over the polish Angela already had on.

Then it was my turn...pretty cool, eh?

It was after 8:30 when Chris and Angela decided they had better head back into Burnaby...after all, they have to work tomorrow! It's wonderful spending time with them while we are in the area. We stayed up chatting around the campfire for another hour or so and then Steve and I went inside to set up the airbed. We had a lovely evening...looking forward to seeing more of Dave and Kerry over the next couple of weeks!

Banff

About Us

We married in 1982 and our sons, Rob and Chris were born in 1983 and 1985. In 1990 we built our dream home in North Saanich just north of Victoria BC on 1.21 acres. We both had long careers, Dianne in Human Resources and Steve as Branch Manager for a controls systems wholesaler.
Steve always felt that there were no guarantees in life as far as health and mortality went, so we planned to retire early and RV full-time.
In late 2009 we began the build process on our custom Toy Hauler truck, taking delivery in early 2010. We moved into our new Montana 5th wheel in Feb 2010, living in it for 4 months while still working. In May 2010 we purchased 2 Yamaha Grizzly 550 ATVs. We're ready!
Just shy of our 55th birthdays, on June 25, 2010 we retired and started our life as gypsies.
We prefer dry camping (boondocking), getting as far away from civilization as possible. However, our size limits us from getting into all of those remote areas. Good thing we have the ATVs to explore with.